DADT Repealed, DREAM Act Blocked

In an historic action this afternoon, the Senate voted 65-31 to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy for gays and lesbians in the military. Fifty-five Democrats, independents Lieberman and Sanders, and eight Republicans voted for the repeal, which now goes to President Obama to sign into law. We honestly didn't think this had more than a slim chance at the beginning of the lame duck session, but pressure and skillful legislating carried the hour. Here's the victory lap:


Meanwhile, the DREAM Act, which would offer a path to citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants was blocked by Senate Rethugs in a 55-41 vote, effectively killing the legislation for the forseeable future. It must be noted that five "Democrats" (Max Baucus, Jon Tester, Kay Hagen, Ben "Dover" Nelson*, and Mark Pryor) joined 36 Rethugs in voting against the bill. Republicans Bob Bennett, Lisa Murkowski and Richard Lugar voted with 50 Democrats and two independents in favor of the bill.

*Why this ass-wad is allowed to call himself a Democrat when he votes with Rethugs 90% of the time is a mystery to us.

Admiral Mullen on DADT

You can skip to about 1:35 in the video for the money quote regarding why it's wrong for gays in the military to have to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens":

"For me personally, it comes down to integrity: theirs as individuals, and ours as an institution."



Well done, sir.